List of Guns N' Roses members
Guns N' Roses is an American hard rock band from Los Angeles, California. Formed in 1985, the group originally consisted of vocalist Axl Rose, lead guitarist Tracii Guns, rhythm guitarist Izzy Stradlin, bassist Ole Beich and drummer Rob Gardner. The band has been through many lineup changes and currently includes Rose (a constant member), bassist Duff McKagan (from 1985 to 1997, and since 2016), lead guitarist Slash (from 1985 to 1996, and since 2016), keyboardist Dizzy Reed (since 1990), rhythm guitarist Richard Fortus (since 2002), drummer Frank Ferrer (since 2006) and keyboardist Melissa Reese (since 2016). History 1985–1997 Guns N' Roses was formed in March 1985 by vocalist Axl Rose and rhythm guitarist Izzy Stradlin of Hollywood Rose, with lead guitarist Tracii Guns, bassist Ole Beich and drummer Rob Gardner of L.A. Guns. After the group's first show on March 26, 1985, Beich was fired and replaced by Duff "Rose" McKagan. Shortly thereafter, Guns and Gardner were replaced by Slash and Steven Adler, respectively, both of whom had previously played with McKagan in Road Crew. The group released Appetite for Destruction in 1987, which as of 2017 had reportedly sold more than 30 million copies. During the resulting concert tour, Adler broke his hand in a fight and was replaced for a run of shows by Cinderella drummer Fred Coury. McKagan also missed a show in May 1988 when he got married, with The Cult's Kid "Haggis" Chaos substituting for the bassist. G N' R Lies was released in 1988, selling almost 10 million copies worldwide as of 2018. Eagles drummer Don Henley performed with the group at the 1989 American Music Awards, after Adler was admitted to rehab for increasing drug problems. By the following July, the drummer had been fired from the band for his continued problems with substance abuse, with The Cult's Matt Sorum taking his place. Adler's last recording with Guns N' Roses was the Use Your Illusion II single "Civil War", which also featured newly-added sixth member Dizzy Reed on piano. The band's new lineup recorded Use Your Illusion I and II and embarked on the Use Your Illusion Tour in May 1991, a few months before their release. On November 7, however, Stradlin abruptly left Guns N' Roses due to the "air of chaos" which surrounded the band. He was replaced by Gilby Clarke, who debuted alongside fellow additions in touring keyboardist Teddy Andreadis, three backing vocalists and a three-piece horn section. After the conclusion of the two-year long tour, Guns N' Roses released "The Spaghetti Incident?" in 1993, an album of cover versions. Work began the next year on a new studio album; however by October, Clarke had been replaced by Rose's childhood friend Paul "Huge" Tobias in time for the recording of their cover of "Sympathy for the Devil". Clarke was reportedly fired by Rose without the consent of the other band members, and Slash objected to the addition of Tobias, which led him to focus on his new side project Slash's Snakepit. Eventually, various differences led to the guitarist's departure in October 1996. He was soon followed by Sorum, who was fired in April 1997, after an argument with Rose regarding the hiring of Tobias. In August, McKagan became the final member of the Appetite for Destruction lineup to leave, explaining in his autoboigraphy that the band was "so erratic that it didn't seem to fit with my hopes for parenthood, for stability". 1997–2015 Rose retained use of the Guns N' Roses name and began rebuilding the band in 1997. His first addition was former Nine Inch Nails guitarist Robin Finck, who joined to replace Slash in August on a two-year contract. He was followed early the next year by Sorum's replacement Josh Freese, who also signed a contract for two years, and McKagan's replacement Tommy Stinson. Later in the year, Chris Pitman joined on keyboards and bass. The new lineup released "Oh My God" in 1999, which marked the first new Guns N' Roses material since in five years. In August, however, Finck left the band to return to Nine Inch Nails upon the expiration of his contract with Rose. He was replaced in March the following year by experimental guitarist Buckethead. Freese left shortly after his arrival, with the guitarist recommending Bryan "Brain" Mantia as his replacement. Finck later returned, and Guns N' Roses played its first live show in the US in seven years on December 31, 2000. After eight years with the group, Paul Tobias left Guns N' Roses in July 2002, with Richard Fortus taking his place. Later in the year, the band embarked on the first leg of its extensive Chinese Democracy Tour, which was their first since 1993. After more touring, Buckethead abruptly left in March 2004, causing the band to cancel its appearance at Rock in Rio. The group continued work on new album Chinese Democracy, but didn't perform again until May 2006 when Buckethead's replacement Ron "Bumblefoot" Thal debuted. In June, Frank Ferrer temporarily replaced Mantia for a run of shows, when the regular drummer was forced to return home earlier than expected to be with his pregnant wife. Mantia ultimately chose not to return to the band, and Ferrer took over on a permanent basis. Chinese Democracy was released in November 2008, 15 years after the previous studio album, and with an estimated budget of $13 million in production costs. In March 2009, Finck left Guns N' Roses for a second time to rejoin Nine Inch Nails, with Sixx:A.M.'s DJ Ashba taking his place. The band continued touring in the years following the 2008 release of Chinese Democracy, including the 2012 Up Close and Personal Tour which saw the group downgrading its production for a run of shows in smaller venues. The Appetite for Democracy tour, which began with a 12-night residency in Las Vegas, spawned the group's first live release since 1999, Appetite for Democracy 3D, in 2014. Reports of a follow-up to Chinese Democracy were made by various members of the band during these years, too, including Ashba and Fortus in 2012, and Rose and Reed in 2014. However, in July 2015 it was announced that Ashba had left the group to focus on Sixx:A.M. and his family. Around the same time, after much speculation, it was also confirmed that Thal had left after the conclusion of the 2014 tour. Stinson also left shortly after the tour for personal reasons. 2015 onwards Despite the recent departure of three long-term members, Ferrer confirmed in July 2015 that Guns N' Roses "still exists" and was "moving forward". The following month, former lead guitarist Slash announced that he had become friends with Axl Rose again, after almost 20 years of not talking to his former bandmate. Alongside the recent departures of both lead guitarists, this fuelled renewed rumors of a potential reunion of the 'classic' lineup of Guns N' Roses, which continued as it was reported that the group was being touted for several European festivals in 2016. The rumours ultimately proved to be true to some extent, as it was announced in January 2016 that both Slash and bassist Duff McKagan would be rejoining Guns N' Roses for a headline performance at Coachella Festival. The reunion was later expanded into the Not in This Lifetime... Tour, which commenced in June. Richard Fortus, Frank Ferrer and Dizzy Reed remained present, while Melissa Reese took the place of Chris Pitman. Members Current Former Touring Timeline TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal format:yyyy Legend = columns:3 position:bottom ScaleMajor = increment:2 start:1986 ScaleMinor = increment:1 start:1986 Colors = id:vocals value:red legend:Lead_vocals id:lguitar value:teal legend:Lead_and_rhythm_guitars id:rguitar value:brightgreen legend:Rhythm_and_lead_guitars id:bass value:blue legend:Bass id:drums value:orange legend:Drums id:perc value:claret legend:Percussion id:keys value:purple legend:Keyboards,_piano,_programming id:subbass value:powderblue legend:Synth_bass id:bvocals value:pink legend:Backing_vocals id:studio value:black legend:Studio_album id:live value:gray(0.73) legend:Live_release_recording id:bars value:gray(0.93) BackgroundColors = bars:bars LineData = layer:back color:live at:06/28/1987 at:12/10/1988 at:05/16/1991 at:08/31/1991 at:01/25/1992 at:02/22/1992 at:04/20/1992 at:06/06/1992 at:09/04/1992 at:12/06/1992 at:04/24/1993 at:11/21/2012 layer:back color:studio at:07/21/1987 at:11/29/1988 at:09/17/1991 at:11/23/1993 at:11/23/2008 BarData = bar:Axl text:"Axl Rose" bar:Tracii text:"Tracii Guns" bar:Slash text:"Slash" bar:Robin text:"Robin Finck" bar:Bucket text:"Buckethead" bar:Bumble text:"Ron Thal" bar:DJ text:"DJ Ashba" bar:Izzy text:"Izzy Stradlin" bar:Gilby text:"Gilby Clarke" bar:Paul text:"Paul Tobias" bar:Richard text:"Richard Fortus" bar:Ole text:"Ole Beich" bar:Duff text:"Duff McKagan" bar:Tommy text:"Tommy Stinson" bar:Rob text:"Rob Gardner" bar:Steven text:"Steven Adler" bar:Matt text:"Matt Sorum" bar:Josh text:"Josh Freese" bar:Bryan text:"Bryan Mantia" bar:Frank text:"Frank Ferrer" bar:Dizzy text:"Dizzy Reed" bar:Chris text:"Chris Pitman" bar:Melissa text:"Melissa Reese" PlotData = width:11 textcolor:black align:left anchor:from shift:(11,-4) color:vocals bar:Axl from:start till:end color:lguitar bar:Tracii from:start till:05/15/1985 bar:Slash from:05/20/1985 till:10/31/1996 bar:Robin from:08/01/1997 till:08/01/1999 bar:Bucket from:03/15/2000 till:03/17/2004 bar:Robin from:10/30/2000 till:03/20/2009 bar:Bumble from:05/01/2006 till:06/30/2014 bar:DJ from:03/21/2009 till:07/27/2015 bar:Slash from:01/04/2016 till:end color:rguitar bar:Izzy from:start till:11/07/1991 bar:Gilby from:11/25/1991 till:10/14/1994 bar:Paul from:10/15/1994 till:07/16/2002 bar:Richard from:07/17/2002 till:end color:bass bar:Ole from:start till:03/28/1985 bar:Duff from:03/30/1985 till:08/15/1997 bar:Tommy from:05/01/1998 till:06/30/2014 bar:Duff from:01/04/2016 till:end color:drums bar:Rob from:start till:05/31/1985 bar:Steven from:06/04/1985 till:07/11/1990 bar:Matt from:07/15/1990 till:04/15/1997 bar:Josh from:03/15/1998 till:03/14/2000 bar:Bryan from:03/15/2000 till:06/25/2006 bar:Frank from:06/26/2006 till:end color:perc bar:Rob from:start till:05/31/1985 width:7 bar:Steven from:06/04/1985 till:07/11/1990 width:7 bar:Matt from:07/15/1990 till:04/15/1997 width:7 bar:Josh from:03/15/1998 till:03/14/2000 width:3 bar:Bryan from:03/15/2000 till:06/25/2006 width:3 bar:Frank from:06/26/2006 till:end width:3 bar:Dizzy from:02/15/1990 till:end width:7 bar:Melissa from:01/04/2016 till:end width:7 bar:Chris from:10/15/1998 till:01/03/2016 width:5 color:keys bar:Dizzy from:02/15/1990 till:end bar:Chris from:10/15/1998 till:01/03/2016 bar:Melissa from:01/04/2016 till:end bar:Axl from:start till:end width:3 bar:Robin from:08/01/1997 till:08/01/1999 width:3 bar:Robin from:10/30/2000 till:03/20/2009 width:3 color:subbass bar:Chris from:10/15/1998 till:01/03/2016 width:7 color:bvocals bar:Slash from:05/20/1985 till:10/31/1996 width:3 bar:Bumble from:05/01/2006 till:06/30/2014 width:3 bar:Slash from:01/04/2016 till:end width:3 bar:Izzy from:start till:11/07/1991 width:3 bar:Gilby from:11/25/1991 till:10/14/1994 width:3 bar:Paul from:10/15/1994 till:07/16/2002 width:3 bar:Richard from:07/17/2002 till:end width:3 bar:Ole from:start till:03/28/1985 width:3 bar:Duff from:03/30/1985 till:08/15/1997 width:3 bar:Tommy from:05/01/1998 till:06/30/2014 width:3 bar:Duff from:01/04/2016 till:end width:3 bar:Rob from:start till:05/31/1985 width:3 bar:Steven from:06/04/1985 till:07/11/1990 width:3 bar:Matt from:07/15/1990 till:04/15/1997 width:3 bar:Dizzy from:02/15/1990 till:end width:3 bar:Chris from:10/15/1998 till:01/03/2016 width:3 bar:Melissa from:01/04/2016 till:end width:3}} Session musicians Lineups Footnotes References External links *Guns N' Roses official website Category:Lists * Guns N' Roses Guns N' Roses band members